SENTIMENTAL FRIENDS

Chats with garden friends - just for subscribers

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The Sentimental Gardener

Cass Dowding
  • 5.0 (14)
  • HOME & GARDEN

Join Cass Dowding, an enthusiastic everyday gardener, as she has conversations with fellow plant lovers about the gardens and plants that shape our stories and connect us to what matters most.

  1. Introducing Sentimental Friends - Cass and Attila talk MIFGS 26 and more

    5 DAYS AGO ·  BONUS • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Introducing Sentimental Friends - Cass and Attila talk MIFGS 26 and more

    I've heard how much you love the deep dives we do on the Sentimental Gardener, but you'd love more than monthly episodes! Well, I present to you a new show called 'Sentimental Friends' by The Sentimental Gardener. It's exclusive to subscribers only and drops monthly. Imagine you've been outside all day in your own garden, pondering about all things life and plants and then your friend drops by (who also loves gardens) and you grab a drink (hot or cold) and sit down together to debrief and catch up what each other is up to. That's the vibe for Sentimental Friends. More conversations, a little more casual. In our first episode of Sentimental Friends, I'm joined by previous SG guest Attila (Horgosi) The Horticulturist. We debrief our day together at The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show 2026, which leads to talking about our ideas for the show, which leads to The Landscape Conference which leads to Attila up a banksia tree which leads to how plants bring people together. So, take off your gloves (or put them on if you're heading out to garden) and enjoy Cass and Attila on Sentimental Friends. Things to listen to: Attila's episode on The Sentimental Gardener https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/attila-the-horticulturist-on-a-life-of/id1805506671?i=1000732695405 Things to look up: The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show https://melbflowershow.com.au/ The Landscape Conference https://www.outlandishventures.au/participate/alc2027/ See https://libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy/ for privacy information

    47 min

  2. 9 MAR

    Fiona Crombie on designing gardens for Hamnet, paw paw and her love of roses

    Award-winning production designer Fiona Crombie joins Cass Dowding for a conversation about memory, storytelling and the gardens that stay with us. Best known for her work on films including The Favourite, The King, Cruella, Mickey 17 and Hamnet, Fiona reflects on the gardens of her childhood, from Sydney bushland to her grandmother's garden in Brisbane, and the plants that still carry a deep sense of home. Together, Cass and Fiona explore how gardens helped shape the emotional world of Hamnet — from wild, useful planting to hidden foraging spaces, orchards and one unforgettable tree. It's a gentle conversation about beauty, atmosphere, creativity and the way nature helps us tell stories. Fiona also shares her three sentimental plants: wattle, gardenia and pawpaw. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 01:55 Earliest Garden Memories 07:33 What a Production Designer Does 10:34 Discovering the Gardens of Hamnet 14:27 Designing Through Collaboration and Discovery 16:24 Finding the Tree 21:44 Creating the Gardens of Hamnet 28:51 Building the Henley Street Garden 30:57 The Knot Garden and the New House 35:03 The Hidden Foraging Garden 35:58 Designing the Globe to Feel Like the Inside of a Tree 40:10 What Stayed With Fiona After Hamnet 42:51 Three Sentimental Plants 45:52 Quick Fire Questions 49:39 Cass' Reflection 51:43 Credits and What's Next Join other garden and plant lovers getting podcast updates in their inbox and Substack writing in regular newsletters — join here To become a financial supporter of the show and help us spread more stories of the joy of a life in gardens — join here Credits: Music: Hayden Schueler from Vereya Gardening Audio support: Tom Dowding Produced and edited by Cass Dowding See https://libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy/ for privacy information

    53 min

  3. 25 FEB ·  BONUS

    Cass Dowding on starting a podcast, the plants that held grief and what grew after

    The story of The Sentimental Gardener. Cass Dowding swaps roles and takes the guest seat as is asked all the questions she asks her guests.  Guided by brilliant host Chloe Foster, author of The Rookie Gardener, host of 3CR Gardening Show and Horticulture educator, Cass opens up about starting a podcast, how gardens contained and plants helped her process her grief and what grew after.  From dreams of being a dancer, to finding a career in midwifery and nursing to how motherhood made her face what's really important, Cass' story is a winding journey of a life filled with finding the thing that brings life and joy ... which is now plants! And gardens. And people who garden!   00:00 Introduction 02:16 Childhood Garden Memories 08:29 Career Path: Ballet to Nursing 12:42 Covid, Motherhood and Change 18:44 Grief and Becoming a Sentimental Gardener 22:27 Cancer, Anxiety and the Garden 24:02 Writing and Discovering Garden Stories 27:39 How the Podcast Began 33:51 Finding Confidence and Voice 44:29 What Surprised Me About Gardeners 46:53 Three Sentimental Plants 55:37 What Gardens Teach Us About Life 1:00:29 Why Gardening Brings Belonging Other Sentimental Gardener podcat episodes mentioned in this episode: Fleur Flanery on what the landscape says about us, The Australian Landscape Conference and a million trees Sandra Schwartz on the study of greenspaces Hayden Schueler on being a closeted gardener, Japanese topiary and caring for other people's gardens Chloe Foster on her book The Rookie Gardener, prickly grevilleas and growing gardeners Join other garden and plants lovers getting podcast updates in their inbox and Substack writing in regular newsletters - join here To become a financial supporter of the show and help us spread more stories of the joy of a life in gardens - join here Credits: Music: Hayden Schueler from Vereya Gardening Audio support: Tom Dowding Produced and edited by Cass Dowding See https://libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy/ for privacy information

    1hr 15min

  4. SEASON 2 TRAILER

    A little update from The Sentimental Gardener

    Cass shares what's coming in Season 2 ... returning March 2026

    2 min

  5. 17/12/2025

    Christmas Special with Annie Winter - on friendship, the first season and floppy Phlomis

    Annie Winter, gardener, and Cass share laughs, tangents, and heartfelt reflections in this Christmas Special recorded in The Winter Garden. Can they cover everything they want to talk about? Most likely not! But along the way, you'll hear: How their friendship began (it started with a "no") Behind the scenes of starting a podcast and dealing with imposter syndrome Gardens where they felt the 'whoosh' this year Reflections on this season's incredible guest stories Listener stories that made them cry One lucky listener winning a $50 voucher from Kuranga Native Nursery Stay until the end for a hilarious outtake! About Annie's garden: Annie's garden opens in January 2026 for Global Gardens of Peace fundraising event. Read more in Garden's Illustrated, Galah magazine, The Design Files  and Studio Home Unearthed.  Follow The Sentimental Gardener on Instagram and Substack: @the_sentimental_gardener Follow Annie on Instagram: @annmaree.winter And go to the website www.thesentimentalgardener.com for show notes and other stories.  The Sentimental Gardener is a gardening podcast (that's not really a gardening podcast) hosted by Cass Dowding. Produced, recorded and edited by Cass Dowding. Mixed by Tom Dowding Theme music by Hayden Schueler from @vereyagardening Hosted on Libsyn Five. See https://libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy/ for more information.

    1hr 42min

  6. 03/12/2025

    Ralph Bristow on The Barwitian Garden, designing through listening and his love of Yuccas

    Ralph Bristow, expressionist painter and garden designer, joins Cass for a gentle, searching conversation about what happens when we design not from certainty, but from listening. They explore Ralph's experience of synaesthesia — hearing gardens as music — how embracing entropy and creative dissonance shapes living landscapes, and why beginning without a finished picture can lead to the most alive work of all. From colour inversion to jazz-fusion rhythms in planting, Ralph shares how his gardens emerge through risk, instinct, and deep attention to the land. Along the way, they reflect on the emotional safety beautiful spaces create — how gardens can help us feel open without feeling overwhelmed — and how his mother's words, "Do it while you can," became quiet permission to keep creating even when outcomes remain unknown. This is an invitation into uncertainty as a creative companion — into tending not just gardens, but our capacity to begin, listen, and feel fully alive. SHOW NOTES See extensive show notes at The Sentimental Gardener — Ralph Bristow Buy tickets to visit The Barwitian Garden with Open Gardens Victoria — January 2026 Music: Hayden Schueler @vereyagardening Audio engineering: Tom Dowding Production & editing: Cass Dowding Privacy policy: libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy

    1hr 5min

  7. 23/11/2025

    Rodger Elliot on cultivating Australian native plants, growing passionate plant people and the interconnectedness of everything

    Horticulturist, author, and advocate for Australian native plants, Roger Elliot AM joins Cass Dowding on The Sentimental Gardener to explore how a lifetime of noticing — from childhood bushland to decades of fieldwork — can shape the way we understand the natural world. From early days learning under mentors like Edna Walling, Jack McLeod, and Glen Wilson, to co-authoring alongside David Jones the landmark Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation, Roger has spent more than sixty years asking: How do plants, people, and place shape one another? And what grows when we care with curiosity? In this episode, they talk about: the "web of life" Roger saw long before ecology had a name the quiet, essential partnership of Roger and Gwen how nurseries, fieldwork, and mentoring shaped generations of plant lovers and why caring for plants is inseparable from caring for people A gentle, generous conversation about legacy, relationship, and the slow work of cultivating a life with meaning. — SHOW NOTES: See extensive show notes over at The Sentimental Gardner - Rodger Elliot Visit the Australian Garden at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Cranbourne to see one of the landscapes Roger helped shape. Music by Hayden Schueler @vereyagardening Audio Engineering: Tom Dowding Production and Editing: Cass Dowding Privacy: libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy

    1hr 33min

  8. 03/11/2025

    Fleur Flanery on what the landscape says about us, The Australian Landscape Conference and a million trees.

    Landscape architect, horticulturist, and Director of Outlandish Ventures, Fleur Flanery joins Cass Dowding on The Sentimental Gardener to explore how the landscapes we shape — from backyards to public parks — reflect what we value. From childhood gardens brought to life by the imagination to managing Canberra's urban forest and curating the Australian Landscape Conference, Fleur has spent a lifetime asking: What is this place saying? What could it become? In this episode, they talk about: memory, lineage, and legacy held in plants rethinking beauty in public spaces what it means to sit on the edge of an idea and why design — done with intent — is an act of care A reflective conversation about tending both land and life with purpose. — SHOW NOTES: Learn more about Fleur's work, garden tours and The Australian Landscape Conference at Outlandish Ventures. Follow @outlandishventures on Instagram for updates.   Music by Hayden Schueler @vereyagardening Audio Engineering: Tom Dowding Production and Editing: Cass Dowling Privacy: libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy

    51 min
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Trailer

5
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

Join Cass Dowding, an enthusiastic everyday gardener, as she has conversations with fellow plant lovers about the gardens and plants that shape our stories and connect us to what matters most.

Information

  • Creator
    Cass Dowding
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    The Sentimental Gardener
  • Provider
    Cassie Dowding

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